On the violence in the stadiums and on the measures announced by the government to deal with it after the serious injury of the 31-year-old policeman in incidents with fans, the Minister of Citizen Protection, Yiannis Oikonomou, spoke on the ANT1 television station.

“The policy of dealing with violence, fan violence in this case, must be dynamic and adapt each time to the developments before us” stressed Mr. Economou and continued by saying:

“We have done things to deal with fan violence. It would be unfair and nihilistic to say that nothing has been done. People are in jail because the legal framework has changed, people are in jail because the police have arrested them, the police have tools in their hands to arrest, but obviously we seem to have to adapt our action to this demoralizing climate – let me say hooliganism we live in, for various reasons. Either because it is a consequence of a huge culture of violence that exists, or because the measures need strengthening and better implementation, or because they still find moral and material support from circles that we have to deal with”.

In reference to his visit tomorrow to the Supreme Court’s prosecution, together with Yiannis Vroutsis, the Deputy for Citizen Protection said that the Justice will be asked to upgrade the entire case.

“We will ask that this case be examined as an activity of criminal gangs, with interconnections, not only with phenomena of fan violence but with a series of criminal behaviors that cover wider issues: drug trafficking, protection, connections with extreme political organizations, participation in strange gangs and mafias – and with a deep history that will not even cover 2, 3 or 6 months or 1 year, but will go much further back to murders and to persons whose presence, despite the fact that it was marked there, continued and continues to highlight the fans in sports venues and in the ecosystem” noted Mr. Economou.

In addition, he underlined that a re-examination of a series of cases will be requested which will help the authorities to deal with (both in terms of the physical, but possibly also the moral perpetrators) all this escalation of criminal activity by these gangs of hooligans.

Responding to a question about the presence of the police in the stadiums, Mr. Economou was clear by pointing out that in a sporting event where there are thousands of people, it is not possible not to have a police presence. “We are between different views that are completely, diametrically opposed to each other. There are voices that say that the police have no business in the stadiums and voices that say that the police should be in the stadiums and do everything. What is needed is to reassess the role and the way the police will do their job better at the stadiums,” he said.

Afterwards, Mr. Economou emphasized that there is a lack of control through the camera system, which he wants to either improve or build – in some cases – from scratch, while adding that the police cannot go to the stadiums and arrest anyone who has criminal records. “Evidence is needed, in order to have it, it must have images from cameras. He must have evidence that so-and-so who has bought his ticket online is the one in question and is there. So that no one can get away with creating problems and the police are not forced to shoot at the righteous and the unrighteous. If these conditions are not met, it will be clear that he will review on February 12 whether and which stadiums that meet these conditions will be able to open for the fans,” said the minister.

At the same time, he pointed out that “the goal is for the cameras to work and not to underestimate the second condition, which is very basic. Really today, who can say that the person who bought the ticket is 100% the natural person who goes and sits in his seat? Shouldn’t these end at some point and that the PAEs are implemented and take their responsibility in meeting these conditions?”

Asked about what the Amateur Olympiacos supported in today’s interview, Mr. Oikonomou said: “All I want to say is that this type of reaction is completely out of step with common sense, with a sense of justice and with the evidence resulting from the police investigations, the case file, from the interrogations and from what will come to the surface from the analysis of the evidence collected in that area”.

Finally, referring to the mass arrests carried out by ELAS after the serious injury of the policeman, Mr. Economou emphasized that “due to the choice of the police to carry out this mass arrest, there is a lot of evidence that will lead, unravel the tangle even further. Possibly even instigators that we may not imagine at this time. Everything will be used. What is very important to say, however, is that when we have this murderous action by deified hooligans, this brutal behavior, it is not allowed and no one can try to give them any moral, ideological, fan base, justification the people who commit these criminal acts. This is unacceptable”.